In many manufacturing facilities, stacks of material such as metal sheets or the like are delivered to the facility on wooden skids or pallets. Although materials other than metal sheets may be delivered to manufacturing facilities, the term metal sheets will be used herein for purposes of clarity and conciseness. The wooden skids do not lend themselves to convenient handling or storage so it is necessary to transfer the metal sheets from the wooden skids to some form of metal pallet which may be more conveniently handled. In most cases, the pallets are moved from location to location within the facility by means of forklift trucks which usually include a pair of vertically movable forks which engage the underside of the pallet. If the forks of the forklift truck are not precisely positioned beneath as in the pallet, the pallet could fall from the forks since the pallets are being supported at approximately the center thereof.
Once the metal sheets have been removed from the wooden pallets and placed on a metal pallet, the problem of conveying the same to the press brakes, etc. is troublesome as is the storage of the same if the material is not going to be used immediately. Further, once the material has been fabricated into a finished product, the handling, storage and shipment of the same is also inconvenient.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an improved materials handling system for use in a metal fabrication facility.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a physically integrated manufacturing system.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a materials handling system which conveniently provides a means for handling metal sheets from delivery to fabrication to shipment.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a materials handling system for transferring metal sheets positioned on wooden pallets to system pallets.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved pallet having recesses at its lower outer ends for receiving the forks of a forklift truck.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved pallet which is engaged at the ends thereof by the forks of a forklift truck for increased stability and safety.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved pallet which permits the forks of a forklift vehicle to bypass the load on a pallet positioned below the pallet being handled.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a system of the type described including elongated conveyors having transversely extending conveyors associated therewith for supplying empty pallets thereto, and removing loaded pallets therefrom.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an electronically guided vehicle for conveying or transporting materials from one location to another within the facility.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a cantilevered side-loading forklift vehicle.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a system for removing loaded pallets from a storage bay.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.